Churkin: Russia will be reelected to the UN Human Rights Council next year
Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said that Russia will be re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council next year. This was said on 28 October, when commenting on the results of the vote of the General Assembly, when Russia did not receive the required majority of votes, losing to Hungary and Croatia.
"We were in it for several years, I'm sure the next time we will be included again," Churkin said, adding that Russia "needs a break."
More than 80 human rights groups said they are satisfied with the decision in regards to Russia.
"UN member states have given a clear signal to the Kremlin regarding their support of the Assad regime, which has committed so many atrocities in Syria," said the representative of Human Rights Watch at the United Nations, Louis Charbonneau.
"The non-election of Russia shows that the people of the world can reject brutal offenders, if they wish to," the Executive Director of UN Watch, Hillel Neuer, said.
Some Russian lawmakers who were interviewed by journalists in Russia blamed the United States and its allies in Europe for Russia's exclusion from the UN Human Rights Council. According to Russian officials, lobbies acted behind the scenes of the General Assembly, to cause a diplomatic blow to Moscow to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine and Syria.
At the same time, U.S. officials said that they are not involved in such actions, but are pleased with the decision of the General Assembly. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry thanked the UN Human Rights Council members for their work, calling the organization "balanced and reliable."
Despite the fact that Russia was not included in the UN Human Rights Council, membership was granted to several countries where human rights defenders have many issues, including Saudi Arabia, China, Cuba, and Egypt.
Overall on Friday, 14 members of the UN Council for Human Rights were elected for a three year term.